While driving to the Atlanta airport on Wednesday, Adam Nelson may have won a gold medal in the shot-put at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens.Tim Layden has a nice story in Sports Illustrated.
A little Nelson background for newcomers to the blog. . . . Nelson came to Dartmouth as a linebacker but switched to the defensive line as a senior. He finished with 18 tackles on the undefeated 1996 Ivy League championship team that held six of 10 opponents to a touchdown or less. . . . He had 18 tackles as a junior and 22 as a sophomore. . . . He was the first freshman to play for Dartmouth when first-year eligibility was restored in the Ivy League in the 1993 season.
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The Trenton Times has a story about Princeton corner Khamal Brown's life being saved by emergency brain surgery in early October. From the story:While teammates and even Khamal Brown himself thought he had suffered a concussion during football practice, it was actually the rupturing of the AVM, a cluster of veins and arteries about the size of a large grape, that caused the confusion and lethargy he felt as he staggered off the field.Also from the story:
(Neurosurgeon Mandy) Binning said Brown was likely born with the rare condition, which affects 300,000 people in the United States. Some never know they have it. Others are diagnosed after they experience seizures or bleeding in the brain, like Brown.
Binning said the renewed awareness of the dangers of concussions on the football field probably helped save Brown’s life.Brown is the third Princeton football player in four years to face a life-threatening condition. Chuck Dibilio suffered a stroke last winter after rushing for more than 1,000 yards as a freshman. And fellow running back Jordan Culbreath was diagnosed with aplastic anemia in 2009 after winning the Ivy League rushing title the year before.
A current Princeton Alumni Weekly story reports Dibilio is making good progress. From the story:
Dibilio has high hopes for a return to football in 2013. Since the summer, he has been exercising without restrictions, and his primary physician recently cleared him for full contact. (Princeton coach Bob) Surace said that the University is committed to putting Dibilio’s health first, and there will be no pressure for him to return to the field.Culbreath's story was widely documented, including in the New York Times.
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That Certain '14 worked yesterday as a "gofer" for the NBC Sports Network, which broadcast Dartmouth's 4-2 ice hockey win over Vermont last night. She was fetching this and that and doing all manner of other chores from about 8:30 a.m. until about 9:30 p.m. She hiked 12,000-foot peaks in the fall on Dartmouth's Stretch Program and runs 5-6-7-8 miles a day training for track and cross country, but when she got home last night the kid was out on her feet beat. Oh yeah. And not at all interested in a career in the production side of TV sports ;-)
